The Margaret River region’s reputation as an extraordinary port destination has been boosted with research showing that 100 percent of recent cruise passengers surveyed had a positive experience during their visit.

Tourism Western Australia’s Chief Executive Officer Stephanie Buckland said the agency commissioned research earlier this year to gain feedback from passengers on their experiences during cruise ship visits to Busselton in the Margaret River region.

“Three out of five, or 61 percent, of transit passengers rated their overall experience at the destination as excellent while a further 34 percent rated their experience as very good and the remainder as good,” Buckland said.

The research was undertaken by an independent research company and involved a quantitative face-to-face survey with more than 150 passengers as they embarked on the Diamond Princess and Dawn Princess following their visit to the region.

Buckland said the popularity of the Margaret River region as a cruise destination continued to grow with a recent announcement by Carnival UK’s Cunard Line that their flagship ocean liner, the Queen Mary 2, would visit the region in February 2017.

“In addition, it is great to see that the City of Busselton has been successful in receiving funding from the Federal Government as part of the Tourism Demand Driver Infrastructure program. The funding will go towards constructing a new landing platform on the Busselton Jetty, to improve the passenger experience.”